News, information and resources about Austin I.S.D.'s Social and Emotional Learning Initiative

The SEL Department has a lot to celebrate as we enter the home stretch of SY18-19! The first of our celebrations is you!! Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Teaching is the concrete empowerment of the future. It’s the profession that creates all the other professions. It’s teaching academic content, and the skills humans need to learn and connect with each other. It’s the hardest work, the heart-est work, the oldest work that gets to the kernel of what it means to be a human being on the earth. We humans are learners, and teachers perpetuate the best of humanity. Thank you, AISD educators, for your passion and compassion, your brains and hearts, every single day.

Indeed, celebrating ourselves and each other is an essential part of being human: it gives us the opportunity to grow relationships, inspires us to set new goals, and motivates us to get concrete work toward those goals done. The end of the school year is always a good time to celebrate our many accomplishments, and reflect on where we go from here.

Intentional SELebrating!

Teacher SELebrations

In school year 17-18, the inaugural cohort of Social and Emotional Leadership Pathway teacher participants started their 2 year journey with us. AISD’s Leadership Pathway is an innovative micro-credentialing process that allows teacher leaders to build capacity in a district-prioritized specialty area. We are so proud of the 79 SEL teacher leaders who worked hard and completed the first SEL Leadership Pathway!

Campus SELebrations

Austin ISD has been working to honor our collective Social and Emotional Learning journey by inviting schools throughout our district to become Seed Model Campuses:

This designation is given to schools which effectively demonstrate the process of continual social and emotional growth, and for each successive year they choose to engage in continued documentation of their SEL progress and goal-setting.

In SY 17-18 we had a cohort of 19 campuses; this school year that number has blossomed to 53! Each campus has set goals to drive their intentional, concrete SEL work: effective collection and application of student voice, growing culturally-responsive classrooms, SEL for parents and caregivers, and increased time utilizing mindfulness activities…and that’s just a few.

Part of the Seed Model Campus Cohort commitment is hosting guests to build understanding and capacity for SEL practices; our Seed Model Campuses have inspired and empowered over 100 out-of-district visitors! In addition to being learning sites for people outside the district, our SEL Seed Model Campuses helped many of our assistant principals identify what SEL looks and sounds like on our Austin ISD campuses this year. More of those visits will occur next fall!

Representatives from these schools will share their stories, goals and outcomes, at our Seed Model Share Fair, held at our annual SEL Symposium at McCallum High School on June 11, 2019. Let’s have a huge round of applause for our 2018-2019 Seed Model Campus Cohort!

ELEMENTARY CAMPUSES

Andrews

Baldwin

Barrington

Becker

Blanton

Blazier

Clayton

Cook

Dawson

EDAEP

Graham

Guerrero-Thompson

Gullett

Harris

Highland Park

Kiker

Langford

Lee

Maplewood

Metz

Mills

Norman & Sims

Ortega

Overton

Pease

Pecan Springs

Perez

Pleasant Hill

Reilly

Ridgetop

Rodriguez

Rosedale

St. Elmo

Sunset Valley

Widen

Zavala

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Bailey

Covington

Gorzycki

Martin

O. Henry

Paredes

Sadler Means YWLA

Small

HIGH SCHOOLS

Akins

Anderson

Alternative Satellite Campuses

Austin

Bowie

Clifton CDS

Crockett

LBJ ECHS

Congratulations on another year of learning and success, everybody! We are #AISDProud of our #AISDHome.

How do you celebrate yourself, your students, and your classroom? Let us know in the comments, and tag us on social media @austinisdsel! ON TO SUMMER!

Until fairly recently, the theory of educating young people in America has been dichotomous: Go to school, learn stuff about things in the world from teachers, and then come home to the “family setting” to learn how to “be a person.” Teachers and schools have traditionally been viewed as purveyors of “hard skills,” or academic content: math proofs, the scientific method, grammar, historical knowledge. “Soft skills,” or concepts around relationships, morality, emotional regulation, responsible decision-making, and getting along with others have been considered non-academic skills, relegated to “figuring it out” in life outside school.

Classrooms are where we learn to be people!

Of course, teachers and students have known for millennia that learning doesn’t happen without relationships in the classroom and emotional awareness. Human brains are hardwired to connect with one another, and learning takes place when human connections are strong and humans feel safe and welcome in learning spaces. The academic skills we associate with traditional school don’t even register in the brains of young people without addressing the so-called “soft skills” of relationship building, self management, effective collaboration, selective vulnerability, etc. More and more research confirms that, indeed, social and emotional skills are academic skills.

Edutopia offers this case study on how the large urban school district in Nashville, Tennessee, has been intentional with integrating SEL and academic skills across all schools and levels. Here is the Austin ISD research brief demonstrating the positive academic outcomes that our ongoing district-wide commitment to Social and Emotional Learning has produced. The numbers speak for themselves – SEL skills = academic learning!

How do you link social and emotional learning in your education space to boost academic learning? Teachers and school leaders are the true experts! Let us know in the comments and by tagging us on social media: @austinisdsel!

At its essence, the practice of mindfulness is a chance to choose one’s response to life events, large and small, significant and mundane. Here’s a short video from Happify for a concise and adorable explanation:

Exercising the Superpower

Since the concept of mindfulness has gotten more attention lately (in large part due to positive research findings!), there are many resources available to help build a practice. And don’t forget: a practice can just be reminding one’s self to take a breath once in a while, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally! The breath is the present we can always return to, and the tool we can always use. Beyond just breathing, check out these other great ideas:

There are many mindfulness experts teaching already in Austin ISD and beyond – how do you do mindfulness in your life and work? Let us know in the comments, and tag us on social media: @austinisdsel! See y’all out there in a near-future present moment!

It’s been coming for a month now: increasing red hearts in various retail establishments, culminating in brilliant crimson displays of chocolate boxes, cards and stuffed animals. Perhaps the heart-shaped Valentine focus of February can start to seem a little cloying!

But there’s something to all these hearts everywhere…science shows that our actual hearts, the ones that pump blood tirelessly around our bodies our whole lives, benefit from acts of kindness and compassion toward ourselves and other humans. So let’s get our hearts out on our sleeves in the name of science!

Compassion – What is it?

Compassion literally means “to suffer together.” Among emotion researchers, it is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.

Compassion is not the same as empathy or altruism, though the concepts are related. While empathy refers more generally to our ability to take the perspective of and feel the emotions of another person, compassion is when those feelings and thoughts include the desire to help. Altruism, in turn, is the kind, selfless behavior often prompted by feelings of compassion, though one can feel compassion without acting on it, and altruism isn’t always motivated by compassion.

Got it! So how do I get started?

Luckily, the internet is full of ways to invite more compassion into our lives, for the benefit of all of us!

Happy 2019 y’all! The new year represents a moment to examine ourselves and our practices – personally and professionally, individually and collectively. As educators working to create the best possible learning environments for ALL students, the turn of the year provides an important opportunity to consider how we create equity in our schools.

Skills learned through social and emotional learning support positive student outcomes and district equity initiatives. Check out the AIR researcher Jameela Conway-Turner discussing the link between social and emotional learning and equity:

“With the restorative process, we’re aiming to build a positive classroom and school environment that helps students cultivate a high level of belonging and trust to engage with peers and adults in the school,” said Angela Ward, Administrative Supervisor of Race & Equity.

“The grant aims to lessen the use of suspensions and expulsions and their disproportionate impact on students with disabilities and students of color. Restorative practices build upon the district’s ongoing efforts to address equitable outcomes for our diverse student body,” said Michelle Wallis, Executive Director of Innovation and Development.

The 10 campuses participating in this grant have a dedicated Restorative Practice Associate based on-site, whose job is to work with campus leaders and staff to build a restorative culture rooted in each school’s unique environment and needs. This intentional focus on building culturally-responsive, restorative schools that cultivate positive relationships between all the members of the educational community will profoundly affect behavior and academic outcomes.

Walking the Talk

Educators and school leaders in our district have increasing opportunities to engage with professional development around educational equity, anti-racism work and cultural proficiency. In recent years, three CP&I cohorts have been held in which participants engage in personal and collective work on cultural proficiency. These cohorts continue to work on building professional learning experiences for colleagues to deepen understanding around the importance of culturally-responsive, anti-racist teaching and learning. New teachers and teachers new to our district receive intentional cultural proficiency professional development as part of our August on-boarding process, and many campuses have participated in book studies of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond, a profoundly influential figure in our district’s ongoing work.

Keep it up!

There is so much work to be done! We continue to move forward together as a district, as an educational community, and as a part of a growing, crucial national conversation around disrupting inequitable and oppressive systems and practices in public schools. Ready for more? Check out these resources!

The last month of the year in the northern hemisphere is filled with celebrations from many cultures, often honoring the winter solstice, the turning of the seasons, and the connection with family and community. It can get hectic, of course, and pressure to buy presents and attend social events can narrow our focus toward material concerns and stressful experiences. Because of this, December is a great time to recenter our attention on the deep origins of myriad global holidays: celebrating love and life, and our human connection to one another. One way to reshape our focus is to consider ways we might serve our fellow humans.

Serving You Serves Me Too!

Most people who have participated in acts of service and volunteerism for causes they care about will report that they feel good, and maybe personally fulfilled, during and after the service. But, could it be that authentic altruistic service to others has measurable physical and emotional health benefits? This article from the New York Times explores this idea for young people, and this post from Harvard Health Publishing looks at it for adults in general. This post from HHP examines studies about volunteerism and specific benefits to heart health and lowered blood pressure. Although there is no medical evidence of a direct link between volunteerism and better health, the correlations found in current research are intriguing and promising.

Learning Through Service

There is no doubt that communities generally benefit from service-oriented individuals, and schools offer students, faculty and families unique opportunities to do intentional, authentic service within their community. When carefully scaffolded and crafted, service learning experiences can be deeply educational for students and teachers.

Best practices in education often mention making “real-world” connections to subject matter presented in classrooms, as well as giving students choice and voice to engage with content in ways that are relevant to them. Well-presented service learning projects are rich opportunities for students to make those real-world connections to learning, and have that learning be personally meaningful and lasting.

With November, we head into the holiday homestretch of the year. This is the time when life can start to feel pretty hectic! (As if it wasn’t already in October….) The building of anticipation for the holiday season can be a reminder to mindfully slow down, take a pause, and consider gratitude.

Gratitude acknowledges connection….When we contemplate our place in the intricate, interdependent network of life, we feel wonder and joy. That realization can lead us to express thanksgiving.

And you know how much the Austin ISD Social and Emotional Learning team loves to talk about connection, right? It’s one of the most fundamental aspects of authentic learning! Gratitude also has documented benefits for the physical body; again from the YCEI:

Not only is gratitude a warm and uplifting way to feel, it benefits the body as well. People who experience gratitude cope better with stress, recover more quickly from illness, and enjoy more robust physical health, including lower blood pressure and better immune function.

Let’s Get Grateful!

For something with so many concrete physical and psychological benefits, trying out a gratitude practice can be as simple as writing down, or even just intentionally saying out loud, something you’re grateful for each day. Really. It can be that simple. But, of course, the internet is full of ideas for gratitude practices for every walk of life:

How will you invite more gratitude into your family, classroom and/or life this November? Do you hope to start a practice that can be taken into 2019 and beyond? Let us know by tagging @austinisdsel around social media, and dropping us a comment! We sure are grateful for you!